I remember the first time I heard the word “multipotentialite”. I didn’t know what it meant, and yet something about it rang true for me. Could it be connected to my Soul Mission? As soon as I could, I went online to see what I could find.
Talk about opening a can of worms!
There were articles, podcasts, TED talks, groups… all around one single idea:
‘Multipotentialites have no “one true calling” the way specialists do.’
Yes! That was me… breadth over depth!
My background is pretty unusual, and has always been that way. Even as a kid I never felt called to just one thing. I remember bouncing around from group to group, doing a little here and a little there. I played some sports (volleyball, basketball, softball), did a stint as a cheerleader for about a second, played clarinet in the marching band, spent years studying various forms of dance, and was on several academic teams (quiz bowl, math team, science group).
Each activity was fun, but none ever felt like “oh, I want to do this forever!”
I don’t think anyone could have predicted what I would study at university. My last years of high school were mixed with drama troupe, debate team, political activism, a handful of college level courses, and super advanced math. Even though my high school had 5500 students and 1000 people in my graduating class–which happened to be the first, since the school opened the year before we graduated–there were only 5 people in my math class the last two years. Two of which were a year younger than the rest of us! Yep, we were nerds.
Even with all that variety, I felt aligned.
Thinking back and factoring in the usual teenage angst, I find it kind of humorous that no one ever pinned me as one that just went around trying everything, even though it was exactly what I did. While most people are either nerds, athletes, creatives, etc., I was all of them.
Very early on, I discovered I was a chameleon. This was the first superpower I embodied, probably because it was so much fun. No matter where I was or who I was speaking with, I could connect to the thing we have in common and focus on that.
As I grew older, I expanded on this super power, using the personal connection as a bridge to introduce new concepts in a safe space. I would consciously think about how to describe what I wanted using words and analogies from the thing we have in common. Then once the new idea was anchored in, I would slowly change the vocabulary until I was using more general terminology. In this way, I could bring together people who originally had nothing in common.
How it works
Let me use an example to demonstrate:
Let’s say I have a friend, we will call her Michelle. Our friendship is based on our love of theatre. We go to plays together, sing songs from musicals, and discuss how amazing Bernadette Peters is in all things Songheim.
One day I notice that Michelle uses lots of water when she does the dishes. I would love to talk to her about this, since water is a precious resource not to waste. But before talking to her about the global water crisis and asking her to modify the amount of water she uses for the dishes, I start talking to her about Urinetown.
Just in case you’ve never heard of it, Urinetown is a musical that premiered in 2001. It is a satirical comedy where water has become so scarce, that you have to pay to pee. There are no more free toilets or showers, unless you are megarich. Everyone else has to go to a public facility and pay for the privilege. If you try to go into the woods to do it, you can be arrested and sent to a penal colony called “Urinetown”, never to return. Cue dramatic GASP!
In our conversations about the “privilege to pee”, we talk about where Greg Kotis got the idea for such a strange musical. This eventually leads to a conversation about water pollution and waste. Using examples from the musical, I can talk to Michelle about her own water use. Eventually we are discussing things like water scarcity, water pollution, water treatment, and my own work with biomimicry around water loops.
We can even talk about our own water use and what each of us can do better. All of a sudden, it is Michelle to tell me how she would like to minimize the amount of water she uses. Mission Accomplished! 😉
My super power revealed
One day, I invite Alessandro to an event Michelle and I are attending. Alessandro works on a nature-inspired solution for water desalination that takes its idea from the mangrove plant. By this time, Michelle has become accustomed to hearing me talk about water, so her discussion with Alessandro is fluid.
Michelle expands her view on water. And hopefully, if I have done the other side correctly, Alessandro has a newfound respect for the theatre. Voila, two worlds cross that never before thought they would, and I was the bridge that brought them together.
My chameleon abilities enable me to become a bridge to bring together disparate worlds.
These two things–being a chameleon and a bridge–are two deep patterns that show themselves again and again in my multipotentialite life. They are how my soul achieves what it needs in this lifetime. Once I recognized them, all my various professions revealed themselves to be one continuous flow.
The soul mission of a multipotentialite
So while from the outside it may look like I am jumping from one thing to another, in reality I am perfectly aligned with my soul mission in this lifetime. I am here to help people see and reach things they didn’t think possible. And in order to do this, I need to bring people together who probably would not connect without my assistance.
How I do it does not matter, just as it doesn’t matter for you. You choose the tool based on the current need. One day you can be a teacher, the next a barista, and after that selling your art at street fairs. It is not the expression that matters, it is the deep pattern you are fulfilling.
Connect to your deep patterns, and you will find the paths to accomplish your soul mission.
Until I did that, I was always worried that I was running away from something or didn’t have the concentration to stay at one thing for long. Be honest, you are afraid of that as well, right?
Instead, when you understand your deep patterns, your inner guidance provides what you need to understand the direction to take next to carry out your soul mission. And because you know that what you are doing in this very moment is not the sole thing you will be doing forever, you don’t have that fear of choosing the wrong thing or staying in it when you are ready to move on.
On the contrary, as a multipotentialite, you will participate in many different types of activities all connected together by a deep pattern that gets you closer and closer to completing your soul mission.
Your soul mission is a complex journey that you carry out across multiple lifetimes.
Each life contains a different piece of the puzzle, which is not really a “thing”, but more like an understanding that takes you to a destination.
How you reach that destination is completely up to you. For multipotentialites, it will change many times over one lifetime. Each activity holds a key you need to unlock the next level.
Working with the plant world helped me clearly see my deep patterns. I stopped focusing on what I was doing at the moment, and instead put all my energy into the why. Fears disappeared and I no longer felt like I wasn’t as good as others that were dedicated to one thing. I am also dedicated: I am dedicated to accomplishing my soul mission by trusting the deep patterns.
Once I accepted this about me, I could trace back how all the activities I have carried out have brought together people from many different walks of life. In University, corporate life, and my own business lives, I continue to focus on my super powers, rather than on the job I am doing. And when aligned, I am able to accomplish great success and impact for myself and all the people I unite.
4 Responses
Hey Tigrilla
Thank you for your story. I can relate very much. When I first heared about multipotentialites I broke out in tears because it related so much to all my life. I felt so understood.
I never found “that one thing” and I had at the same time this overarching observation ability that I could see always different viewpoints. So it is hard for me to take a clear position what is asked for in our society often. I heared often, and still do sometimes, that people don’t know how to take me and that they can’t read me.
To realize that I am a multipotentialite and don’t have to fit in was a life changing epiphany for me. I feel much more myself and I allow myself to focus on many things at the same time and and I trust in my power and abilities to see the whole picture.
Thank you for sharing your story, as well, Patrick! Isn’t it amazing how much easier it becomes to navigate your many passions once you accept that you don’t have to pick just one?! It is so liberating!!
So tell me, what have you been up to lately? Would love to hear about all your various projects. How about we set up a call to catch up??
Con Te, Tegrilla,
Thank you! I now have a much better understand of why I am interested in so many different aspects of life, and feeling “odd” because I cannot identify any single “vision” or my “why” for my life. I now better understand why I refer to myself as a chameleon in my mystery-shopper assignments.
I have often used “chameleon” to describe myself, as well. It was the first animal I thought of when I came to Damanhur, but it was already taken! 🙂